I'm currently playing NWO in open beta and have a Devoted Cleric up to around 34 or so. The combat system seems like it'll be similar to what WildStar has to offer - at least in regards to telegraphed damage areas. So if you want to get used to that sort of system, it's good practice. I'm not a fan of the locked-in mouse look, but because they really limit the amount of actions you can use (5 keybinds and 2 mouse buttons) it works out well.
It's true that the game isn't all that challenging, but I only have experience with the Cleric class so it's hard to say definitively. I have seen other players struggle to kill mobs in general PvE questing though, so maybe it's challenging? Or it could be that I'm just that awesome. My ego could use a +1 for the day so let's go with that.
The dungeons are pretty fun and the early ones are really quick and easy. In fact it wasn't until level 30 that I finally came across one that kicked my ass into next week. The dungeon was level 35 though so I was a little out of my league, so I'm not too embarrassed. The final boss actually made us run around a lot avoiding damage, controlling as best we could with 4 players (we had one bail - which seems to happen a lot in this game booo), heal on the go and deal with a lot of chaos (reminded me a bit of the old Ony fight in WoW). It's absolutely puggable, but was definitely longing for voice chat with guildies at that point.
The game also uses 4 main types of currency for it's monetary system - the traditional coin system, Astral Diamonds, Seals (of which there are at least 4 types and maybe more?), and ZEN. Just in case this wasn't enough they also added Ardent Coins, Celestial Coins, and Insignias. This whole thing was confusing as f*ck for me at first because I was running around town looking at all these various types of vendors wondering what the hell this stuff was and where could I get it. But seeing as I R dum (ego -1, dang), I should have just done the what the game wanted me to do and let it take me by the hand like a good little boy and show me its systems - which the game does very well.
- ZEN is the what you buy with real money and the game has no shortage of opportunities to go buy it. I wouldn't say that they shove it down your throat, but you definitely know it's there. You can use this to buy keys to unlock epic quality lock boxes that drop around the world, trade them in for Astral Diamonds and buy other shit with them too. I haven't bothered with making any purchases seeing as this is beta, but the ZEN system is apparently operational. Incidentally, those keys you can buy with ZEN are also sold in the AH by people for Astral Diamonds. Guess that's one way to get a better currency exchange rate.
- The Astral Diamonds are mainly gained through daily quests and "Invoking" your deity. They can be used to buy items such as gear, potions, etc, items from players off of the AH, and to remove gems from slots in your gear or from your companion (both of which are f'n EXPENSIVE to do BTW).
- The traditional coin system (copper/silver/gold/etc) is used as an alternative to AD's. Some things that can be bought with AD's can also be bought with coin, and other things (like mounts) can only be bought with coin - unless you happen to get a key to unlock one of those epic lock boxes and get a Nightmare mount out of it.
- Seals are traded in for gear of a certain level range (e.g., Seal of the Lion is for level 16 to 38 gear I believe) and are gained either by turning in Insignias or by spending Ardent Coins in the Vault of Piety. It's a bit goofy, I know.
So, having said all of that, and if you weren't thoroughly befuddled, here are the other 3 sub-currency(?) options:
- Insignias are basically a trade currency for gear of a certain level range specific to the zone you're in. Was that confusing? I wrote it and I'm not sure I even understood it. So basically when you go into a new zone, the mobs in that zone drop a certain type of Insignia that's specific to that zone. You go to one of the camps (safe areas) around the zone and turn them into the Bounty Master for either a mystery bag (10 Insignias per bag) or for a Seal (50 per Seal). The mystery bag, when opened, gives an item which you usually have to identify and more often than not is for some other class, but is conducive to your level so if it is for your class then at least it could be an upgrade. That being said, who can resist a mystery bag? A boat is a boat, but the mystery bag could be anything - it could even be a boat!
- Ardent Coins you get once per day by Invoking your deity. Basically you stand by a campfire or its equivalent, hit a button and see what your deity feels you're worthy of having. You can do this once per hour, but again, you only get one Ardent Coin per day. You can then turn these into the Vault of Piety lady (basically another vendor) for various items. Early on you'll use 1 of these to get 4 Seals of the Lion for gear.
- Celestial Coins are basically the same thing as Ardent Coins, but you can only have 7 of them and what you can buy is very limited. Plus you apparently HAVE to do at least one Invocation per day or you lose them. Seeing as I've only been playing this game 3 days now I'm still trying to get up to 7 to see if it's worth saving these. As I recall, I think it has something to do with Professions. Hey looky there, what a nice segue!
The Professions (crafting) system is pretty interesting. You essentially have worker bees that do your shit for you. You don't actually craft anything yourself. It's very similar to SWTOR's system if you played that. The cool thing is that you can hire multiple people and the more people you assign to a task, the quicker it gets done. Of course you can also spend Astral Diamonds to finish early if you want - but again, EXPENSIVE!
Companions are basically your battle buddies, or pets. You can choose from 5 (I think) and they level up with you to a certain degree. You can send them off for training (which you can end early with AD's, but it costs... oh, you know where this is going by now), slot gems in them for added bonuses (can be removed with AD's) and essentially give you a bit more oomph to where you might be lacking. They automatically fight with you, so there is not a way to control their actions.
PvP is done via a battlegrounds C&H type of system (at least from what I've seen so far). You basically have a few points that you have to cap and hold which generate points. Most points wins. Nothing too new here. The action is pretty enjoyable, but there are very apparent balancing issues right now. The BG's are littered with thieves and wizards if that tells you anything. If you're going to play PvP, then you'll want to make a dedicated toon just for that since spec'ing out your PvE toon will, in all likelihood, not be very conducive for PvP.
There are also events PvE events that pop up in the zones from time to time. They're basically mini-contests that allow people to rack up <insert objective here>. The winners place in one of the top 3 categories and get a corresponding reward. Sometimes the rewards have been pretty nice, so the events are generally worth participating in when they come up.
And last (or at least the last thing I'm going to go over), and certainly not least is the Foundry system. These are player-built dungeons/stories/quests/boobs (just wanted to see if you were still reading this) that you can do when you want to try something different. They are rated by the community and some are picked to be part of the daily quest system which rewards you with Astral Diamonds. Now, to be honest, many of these aren't great and the writing in them is laughable at best (e.g., "You are entering a smelly cave. It's really smelly, like dead birds, bleached bones and bodies."), but they can be fun and are a good distraction from the typical quest grind.
Oh sorry, I lied to you - there is one last thing. The game is GORGEOUS! The environment is one of the best I've seen in an MMO in quite a while. If nothing else, check it out just for that.
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